Pion Design - Birthday Blooms

Hello Everyone!

Today I am sharing a feminine birthday card featuring the Pion Design collection "Patchwork of Life". Blue isn't just for boys, look at how dainty and delicate these gorgeous flower patterns are!

Patchwork of Life - The Golden Years PD9206

Patchwork of Life - Borders PD9211

Patchwork of Life - Family Quilt PD9212

***

And the heat wave continues. This is as hot as it's been all summer. So hot, that we've closed the outer door, something we've only done once before, since we moved to the new place. Humidity is the 90% range making it difficult to enjoy the outdoors. And here I was thinking we were going to get an early winter, so silly of me! lol

I don't often get the chance to capture a Dove perched in the trees, they spend most of their time on the ground. Such beautiful birds!

When a dance is more than a dance!

~Cardinal vs Blackbird~

How excited was I to see my first ever Quail, and this Gambel's Quail sure was a fun one to watch!

Has anyone ever seen the tv show called "Zoo"? On one hand, how creepy and scary. On the other hand, we totally deserve it, don't we! I've often wondered what some of my wildlife friends would do on an episode of this show? I mean, what would a mob of angry bunnies look like, really?

This is a sweet little visitor I named Porter, you met him back in July. He has a fabulous orange tail and frosted orange tips on his fur! I do hope he visits again some time soon!

Hey Baby Kay! You're supposed to eat out of the dish, not sit inside it! Silly kids!

"OK lady, that's the worst disguise ever, you don't even look like grass!"

~a trail friend~

 My little buddy Rusty, escaping the heat in the shade of the tree leaves.

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. If you have any questions or interesting tidbits about today's wildlife, please let me know.

Pion Design - Rose Passion

Hello Everyone!

Today I am sharing a lovely all occasions card featuring two collections from Pion Design. "Patchwork of Life" and "My Dearest Sofia". You really can't go wrong with all of these gorgeous pink designs!

  

Pion products:

Patchwork of Life - Baby Blanket PD9204

Patchwork of Life - Being a Mother PD9202

Patchwork of Life - Borders PD9211

My Dearest Sofia - Generous PD8807

My Dearest Sofia - Rose Linens PD8804

***

Continuing with my patio redesign, today I would like to show you the way my patio looks right now. There is still some work to be done, and I am constantly finding little changes that need to be made, but for the most part I have a wonderful spot to sit and enjoy the outdoors.

The lattice makes such a beautiful pattern on the floor when the sun shines through the sides, and when the sun is at it's peak, the corrugated roofing creates a pattern that looks like the bottom of a pool, it is so amazing!

My shelf is lined with planter boxes and there are four feeding dishes and a water dish set out. I thumb-tacked them to the wood, so they won't get knocked off the ledge.

I am so in love with my fountain. It is such a relaxing sound and I hardly ever shut it off unless it's raining out!

As you can see, there is almost always a bird or a squirrel hanging around in the 'garden'. This is Teddy popping in to photobomb me as I take my garden shots!

I installed these shelves to create a staircase for the squirrels to get down onto the floor. Each shelf has a little dish full of goodies. The top shelf is where the corn station is, and the floor has some stumps for them to jump on.

My new chair set is so amazing for reading, but I still have to buy some nice new cushions. These green ones are so old and faded and full of holes.

My beautiful Dahlia, when it blooms! You can see the old couch in the back, we also need to replace it with the matching piece to the chair set, but that will have to wait until next year.

The Majesty Palm that I first placed here died because we had a cold snap, so I have replaced it with this gorgeous Dracaena Corn Plant, which I like better anyway!

I thought I should include a few shots of my wonderful squirrels enjoying the new patio garden...

***

"Oh my gosh, you added pink flowers! I'm so happy, pink is my favourite snack!" 

~Baby Kay~

"I'm so exhausted, chewing on that stick you installed totally wiped me out!" 

~Baby Mickey~

"Love the new flowers, but I'm concerned about this dish... It is tiny and doesn't hold very much food!"

~Neddie~

Don't worry Neddie. There's dishes everywhere, just take the tour and you'll see!

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. If you have any questions or interesting tidbits about today's wildlife, please let me know.

Pion Design - A Peaceful Christmas

Hello Everyone!

I love to mix and match Pion Design collections, so today I am sharing a wintery Christmas card featuring the papers from this year's Christmas collection "Long Ago in Bethlehem", and last year's collection "Greetings From the North Pole".

  

Pion products:

Long Ago in Bethlehem - Church PD9406

Long Ago in Bethlehem - Holy Scripture PD9410

Long Ago in Bethlehem - Borders PD9411

Greetings From the North Pole - Midwinter Night PD7601

Greetings From the North Pole - Snowflakes PD7604

Pion Design Palette - Pion White I PD6101

***

So I've been quite anxious to show you some photos of my almost finished garden patio, but I thought I should perhaps start with what it looked like before the construction. 

There was no roof and we tried two different umbrellas and one heavy duty gazebo. All three of them busted from the wind, and all three of them had dark brown fabric covers, which meant not only was the patio dark, but it made the house dark too. It was a dumping sight for every leaf, twig and piece of garbage that the wind carried, and the flooring was a complete disaster! Basically it was gross!!

It ended up being a big giant garbage area since it wasn't a usable space.

The clean up...

My first purchase for the new patio was my bird bath fountain...

First we built the frame which was quite tricky to design. I had to follow building codes, but yet allow for the storage room door at the end, the air conditioner unit, and how it was going to be constructed... since we are on the third floor, there's no way to get around to the outside to hammer in nails.

We installed clear corrugated roofing panels which will allow for lots of light but keep the elements and the garbage off of the patio. This part was also tricky since we couldn't get up onto the roof to attach it like you normally would.

Next I installed this 10" shelf to cover up the round plastic railing. This will give the squirrels a safe place to move around and a great photo environment for me.

I installed some lattice thinking it would give us privacy, but as you can see, it doesn't work that well. This autumn I will be replacing it with proper privacy lattice so people cannot stare up at me!

And last but not least, my carpet! This was a game changer. It's so easy to keep clean and it covers up that nasty nasty nasty flooring!!! It makes the whole patio feel like a piece of outdoor heaven!

So I set the fountain out, plugged it in and bought my first plant (which died because we had a cold snap, oops). 

Next time I will share some photos of the mostly finished patio as it looks now. Until then, no post would be complete without a couple of cute squirrel pics, so here we go...

"Listen lady, I haven't seen you in months... I'd take a heck of a lot more than just two peanuts if I could fit them in my dang face! 

~Missy~

"Nope, it wasn't me who ate all the cookies! I'm totally not guilty and you can't prove a thing!"

~Mama Maxine~

Oh Baby Kay, I do hope you grow into those ears! Lol

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. If you have any questions or interesting tidbits about today's wildlife, please let me know.